Former broadcaster, Kristen Ledlow, is redefining kidswear with Positionless
When former NBA host and courtside reporter, Kristen Ledlow, steps up to execute a big career pivot, she does not mess around with standard plays. After a decade spent on the sidelines interviewing the elite athletes of professional basketball, Ledlow traded high-stakes sports broadcasting for something just as distinctly American but much softer and infinitely cozier: high-end, sustainably made children’s loungewear.
Enter Positionless, a childrenswear brand that dispenses with traditional sizing, gender-specific cuts and colorways and fast-fashion consumerism in favor of an enduring, everyday uniform made to last. Built on the tenets of quality, comfort, inclusivity and ethical domestic production, the brand is redefining how parents can dress their growing children — one oversized, buttery-soft sweatshirt at a time.
Calling the plays: from courtside to cozy
Basketball has been a lifelong passion for Ledlow who grew up playing the sport. As an adult, she lived and breathed basketball for ten years as a veteran broadcaster. Her exciting career was defined by singular focus and relentless drive. But the transition into motherhood — compounded by the surreal realities and aftermath of the pandemic era — shifted her perspective.
Returning to the studio after her first maternity leave, the adjustment proved intense. The broadcaster had been managing live television shoots from a guest bedroom in her home while simultaneously attempting to balance intense newborn care with grueling network demands. It was during this hectic, high-friction season that a quiet word of encouragement from a legendary coworker set a new vision into motion.
Colleague and former NBA superstar, Dwyane Wade, offered a simple reassessment of her changing roles: “Don’t worry about it. You’re positionless. You got this.”
In basketball, “positionless” defines an athlete with extraordinary competence and versatility — think players like LeBron James, who can seamlessly execute the duties of a point guard, a power forward or a center with equal mastery as the best players of those positions. The concept struck a chord with Ledlow, proving that sometimes the best advice falls as softly as snowflakes.
“That was the first time I started thinking about it,” Ledlow said. “The entirety of my adult life has been dedicated to this one end. I’ve been singularly focused on my career as a sports broadcaster. And now I’m married, and I have a baby. How is it that I can do all of this and do it well? It was something I was really wrestling with until that concept started playing in my mind. You can be positionless here.”
Driven by the desire to spend more time at home with her young children without sacrificing her entrepreneurial ambition, Ledlow launched the basketball collection of Positionless in March of 2023. Leaving behind broadcasting wasn’t easy, but the new mission was clear: Create something lasting, thoughtful and reflective of her journey.
The problem with modern kidswear
Every parent knows the frustration of buying children’s clothing. Kids grow at breakneck speed, frequently outgrowing brand-new garments before they can be worn and washed more than a handful of times. Furthermore, sizing across retail brands can be notoriously inconsistent.
Ledlow experienced this exact pain point as a new mom.
“I was at a major retailer and grabbed a bunch of clothes that I thought … would refresh my son’s wardrobe,” she recalled. “He was nine months old, so I got nine-month clothing. None of it fit him. None of it. I was doing the math every single time I went to the store … It was just such an impossible process.”
The standard retail size model forces parents into an endless cycle of buying, outgrowing and replacing cheap clothes. Ledlow set out to create the antithesis of that wasteful cycle: high-quality garments that become even better with age, engineered to fit a child across multiple years rather than a few brief months.
To pull it off, Positionless threw out standard sizing metrics like 2T, 3T and 4T entirely.
Engineering the “Positionless” fit
Instead of tight, restrictive sizing, Positionless pieces are offered in streamlined ranges — small, medium and large — designed to cover children from ages two through 10.
The secret lies in custom structural engineering. Ledlow worked alongside designer and creative director Ryan McGrath at Behind The Scenes Group™ to develop patterns that use structured, ribbed fabric at key contact points — the wrists, ankles, neckline and waist — while generous amounts of plush body fabric drape comfortably in between.
For a two-year-old, a size small fits as a comfy, oversized, drop-shoulder sweatshirt with artfully bunched sleeves. As the child grows taller and leaner over the next two years, the same exact sweatshirt transitions into a more tailor-fitted top.
“My son, who’s five, has just now graduated to the medium,” Ledlow noted. “He’s been wearing our size small for the last several years. When he was two, it was big, baggy, and he looked so cute in all the luxurious fabric. By the time he was four and much taller, it looked like he was just wearing a standard sweatshirt, but it was the exact same one, washed hundreds of times.”
Her youngest son is now two years old and on track to inherit his big brother’s Positionless hand-me-downs, which still have plenty of life and wearability left in them.
“I haven’t even gotten him any new stuff from my own brand because he’s wearing the same [pieces]; we’ve just washed and worn the same ones for so long! They still hold up beautifully. They’re really just softer. I love that he’s now in those same pieces that we created with my first-born son in mind, before my second-born was even a thought in my mind,” Ledlow beamed.
Design philosophy
The brand’s fluid design philosophy extends beyond sizing to include gender-neutral styling. Boy and girl sizing divisions are eliminated completely. Ledlow explained that children’s body shapes are remarkably similar throughout early childhood, so every tee, sweatshirt and pair of shorts or pants in her line can be passed down seamlessly between brothers and sisters.
The pre-washed, 100% carbon terry cotton fabrication means every piece of fleece has a retro, velvety soft exterior and a lived-in, vintage feel straight out of the packaging.
To further simplify building the wardrobes of toddlers and kids (and keeping purchases to a minimum for parents), the slow fashion of Positionless is also synonymous with seasonless wearability. The whole line is designed around five core pieces in a palette of rich, vintage varsity tones, so the pieces mix and match effortlessly and can be worn across all seasons.
The edging details on the short and long-sleeved t-shirts are clean, raw-cut hems that roll slightly after washing, giving kids maximum movement as well as an effortless, high-end lifestyle aesthetic.
Crafted with care: 100% made in the USA
In an era dominated by fast fashion and opaque overseas supply chains, Positionless takes a firm stand on domestic, ethical manufacturing.
From initial knitting to custom garment dyeing, every Positionless piece is crafted in Los Angeles, California. Building a brand in the U.S. with 100% organic and recycled cotton was neither cheap nor easy, requiring a year and a half of intensive product development before launch. However, for Ledlow, it was non-negotiable to adopt a zero-compromise production process that could bring her vision and values to life.
“One of my deepest desires in creating this brand was wanting to know every single person who had their hand on the product until it reached the hands of the little ones wearing it,” Ledlow explained. “I know those people are paid fairly. I know they’re working hours that are appropriate, with materials that are beautiful, sustainable, recycled and organic.”
To prevent environmental waste, Positionless rejects mass overproduction. Garments are manufactured in small, intentional batches and dropped during regular restocks. If an item sells out online, it’s because the brand refuses to leave excess inventory sitting in warehouses destined for landfills.
From basements to NBA arenas and beyond
While Positionless may operate with small-batch ethics, its cultural presence is rapidly expanding.
What started as photo shoots in Ledlow’s Johns Creek neighborhood — featuring local kids and backyard and basement backdrops, with concert photographer Roxy Moure behind the lens, keeping up with and capturing the best of the spirited young models — has blossomed into high-profile retail partnerships across the country.
Positionless has developed custom, arena-exclusive collections for major professional sports teams, including the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena and the Orlando Magic at the Kia Center. These custom lines utilize the brand’s core 100% cotton cuts, customized with team-specific dye color runs and varsity detailing. A collaboration with the WNBA is also currently in development.
Beyond the arena context, Positionless is making waves in chic, curated boutique spaces. At Assemble, a circular luxury and sustainable lifestyle boutique located in Nantucket, Massachusetts, it’s bringing vintage varsity aesthetic to luxury coastal retail. Circular fashion refers to the practice of keeping clothing in use for as long as possible.
Positionless has also partnered with sustainable clothing and circular retailer, Manymoons, known for its high social and environmental performance standards. Manymoons is focused on garment circularity and upcycling, allowing customers to buy, rent and recycle quality, durable, high-end style apparel at discounted prices.
The next play: the football collection
While Positionless launched with a head-nod to basketball heritage, Ledlow is expanding the playbook this season with a dedicated football collection.
Drawing from her upbringing in Tallahassee and a lifelong love of college game days, the new capsule introduces a rich “field green” colorway alongside practice-uniform-inspired gear featuring positions like quarterback, wide receiver and kicker across the front.
“I wanted to create the everyday uniform that was inspired by the game of football, made for every day,” said Ledlow. “It looks like a practice uniform a varsity teammate might wear while warming up, but built to be worn all day throughout fall, winter and spring.”
During the summer, cooler nights will also have you reaching for your favorite Positionless pieces, as will windy boating days. A Positionless sweatshirt draped around a child’s shoulders is also a handy layer to have available when air conditioning makes the indoors a little too chilly for comfort.
As Positionless continues its steady growth, Ledlow remains anchored in the simple values that started it all: family, integrity and intentional living. Whether expanding into new arenas or preparing for the highly anticipated arrival of her third child, she approaches every chapter with the same adaptable, positionless mindset.
“No one who ever built anything worthwhile did it overnight,” Ledlow reflected. “It’s been a cool thing to see the way it’s grown from an idea into something providing jobs and giving me the opportunity to stay home with my little ones while they’re still little.”
To explore the world of premium circular children’s fashion or be one of the first to shop Positionless’ new football collection, visit them online at bepositionless.com.
